Vaccination Rates Drop Among Kindergartners as Exemptions Increase: CDC

Around 3.6 percent percent of kindergartners in the most recent school year received exemptions from vaccine requirements, the agency said.

A vaccine is prepared at a clinic for students in California, in this file photo. Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images

Rates of vaccination among kindergartners ticked down in the 2024–2025 school year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on July 31, as the number of exemptions rose.

Some 92.1 percent of kindergartners in the school year had the diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis vaccine, down from 92.3 percent in the previous year, the CDC said.